


Nightly observations

by HylianDaydreamer



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Anxiety, Gen, Hallucinations, Most characters are only mentioned, Night Terrors, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pre-Time Skip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:47:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27498190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HylianDaydreamer/pseuds/HylianDaydreamer
Summary: Just one of many nights where Dimitri struggles with sleep and his observations while returning to his dorm room. Pre-time skip. Rated M for mentioning blood.
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd & Dedue Molinaro
Kudos: 4





	Nightly observations

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not an expert of PTSD, schizophrenia, hallucinations or anxiety disorders so this is probably not very accurate... Just something I had in my mind and felt the need to type down.

Prince Dimitri walked back to his dorm room after another long training session with Dedue. They had kept going even after the sun set, and he was grateful for the loyal Duscans willingness to spar with him even so late in the evenings. He was even more grateful that Dedue for once trusted him when he had told him that he felt fine tonight – the sparring proved to be effectful to keep the spirits away after all – and gone to bed when asked to. "I won't stay here much longer", Dimitri had told him, "you should get some sleep."

Yet, Dimitri somehow ended up much longer in the Knights Hall than he had promised.

With heavy limbs and damp hair from washing himself up, he found himself surprised that he dead hadn't visited him yet. He hoped they wouldn't try to speak to him before morning, and that the exhaustion he felt after sparring with Dedue would put him to sleep quickly.

He kept his eyes open as he walked past the lower dormitory; one night not too long ago, he had seen a girl with purple hair sneak out of her room and when their eyes met, she froze as if he had caught her doing something forbidden before sprinting like a frightened rabbit to hide behind a shadowed corner. Perhaps he had frightened her, and he didn't wish to do it again. He didn't know her name, but he had heard whispers of a recluse, always hiding in their room. Perhaps it was her.  
Luckily, he didn't see her this night either.

Dimitri turned right at the greenhouse to continue up the stairs to the upper dormitory where he and the other nobles' rooms were located. It was empty, as he had expected; most people were asleep at this hour after all.

Quietly, he stepped past Ingrid's door and further into the corridor to reach his own when he heard a voice, not quite screaming but something like a loud gasp or shouting. Dimitri immediately froze. The voice belonged to a woman.

He stood still, body tense, for a couple of seconds before he slightly relaxed. It didn't feel like it belonged to one of the dead. But then again, he could never be sure. Tentatively, he placed one foot forward to continue to his room when he heard it again and froze once more. Then, before he could react, he heard a door creak open, not too far away from where he stood, and the light of a candle lit up the hallway.

He recognized Hubert, but the darkhaired student hadn't noticed Dimitri yet. After a step or two down the hallway, he finally looked up with his cold eyes, saw the prince and eyed him for a moment. Their eyes locked and Hubert gave him a knowing smirk, as if he could tell why the house leader for the Blue Lions were still up so late, but it quickly disappeared when the voice was heard again. Without paying Dimitri any more attention, Hubert entered Edelgard's room without knocking, closed the door firmly and left the prince standing in the dark hallway.

It took Dimitri a few seconds to realize that the voice belonged to his stepsister (and he let out a sigh of relief that it wasn't one of the deads') and that Hubert had entered her room, which had been unlocked. He found it strange for a moment, but then he reasoned with himself that perhaps it wasn't so strange after all; just like Dimitri had Dedue, Hubert was always by his stepsister's side. He could hear their hushed voices through the door and continued to him own room when he was somewhat convinced that she had only had a nightmare.

He shut his door behind him and locked it. Them he lit a candle, undressed and turned to face his bed, but as he turned, he saw that it wasn't empty; the sheets were wet with brightly red blood and an unidentifiable body laid limp on it. Dimitri immediately shut his eyes tightly closed. He held his breath as his body went stiff and his hands held tightly onto his desk behind him. After a couple of seconds, or perhaps a minute or two, he dared to open them again. The body was gone, same with the blood, but he didn't dare touching the bedsheets yet. Just not yet.

Eyes transfixed on the bed, he reached for the lit candle on his desk and burned his fingers which forced his eyes to shift focus. He silently cursed through his teeth, picked the candle up and hesitantly took a step over to his bed to sit down on the mattress.  
It shouldn't be this hard; it was something he should be used to by now, but he wasn't. He took a deep breath and set the candle next to the bed. He kept his gaze at it, afraid of what he might see if he looked elsewhere, or as if the light could keep the voices that always returned to him away a little longer. He didn't dare blinking or place his head on the pillow. So he sat still with his back pressed against the wall and hoped his exhaustion would soon overwhelm him and bring him sleep.

But adrenaline passed through Dimitri's veins again, this time from fear, and he knew in the back of his mind that sleep would not come easy to him tonight. He tried to think of other things. Not of war, not the spirits of the dead or his classes. So he thought of Edelgard; did she ever have nightmares like his? Was that why Hubert had rushed into her room, just like how Dedue once used to wake him up from his own night terrors? Once part of Dimitri was sad that the Duscan wasn't there to save him from his nightmares anymore, another glad that he couldn't disturb the larger man's sleep.

Edelgard had woken up shouting in distress. Dimitri usually woke up with a racing heart, cold sweat covering his chest and an inability to use his voice even if he wished to.

Not feeling as tense as before, Dimitri slowly pulled at his duvet to cover himself up. He kept staring at the candle until his eyelids grew heavier than his limbs and his head lolled forward to his chest. But he immediately bounced it back up. He shouldn't fight sleep – he wished for it after all – but hearing his stepsister's gasps must have spooked him, for he didn't trust his mind to not play tricks on his mind tonight. So he fought it, until sleep finally overwhelmed him, if only for a couple of minutes or an hour or two before he woke up again, only to lose the battle once more. Just like many previous nights, he managed to only catch a few hours of sleep and the building pressure in his head the following morning was familiar to him.

The voices were back to greet him with their pleas, and he listened to them, agreed to their statements in his mind while he got dressed, and walked to the new professor's class with his childhood friends somewhere ahead of him.


End file.
